Miriam Schapiro
Miriam Schapiro was a contemporary artist and pioneer of feminist art. She pushed boundaries by using craft materials in her work as opposed to traditional forms of media.
Womanhouse, created in 1972 by Schapiro and her female colleagues and students, was a project celebrating and empowering women. An abandoned house in southern California was transformed into an installation bringing attention to feminist issues. The women artists involved challenged stereotypes as they practiced manual labor to renovate the house as their canvas. Collaboratively the women reconstructed the house, and independently each artist expressed their message in their respective rooms. Schapiro paved the way for young female artists to envision themselves in places never accepted before, therefore making them more achievable. Viewers also began to see art in a new way, their ideas could be expressed through more accessible materials and opened the door for them to unleash their inner artists as well. |